9 Beaumaris Street, Outram
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Not well placed |
Requires further development |
Well placed |
Very well placed |
ERO's findings that support this overall judgement are summarised below.
Outram Playcentre is one of 47 playcentres within the New Zealand Playcentre Federation's South Island Southern Region (SISR). The centre operates three mornings a week from 9.00am to 12.30pm. It provides for up to 25 children, including 15 children under two.
Outram Playcentre is celebrating 50 years of service to the families in the rural community around Outram. The centre is located next to the Outram School. The centre has a paid educator and is supported by an SISR support person. A parent council manages the day-to-day operations of the centre.
The centre philosophy is based on children having the opportunity to explore and learn through rich and varied play experiences, in a place they belong and are supported by their own whānau.
Since the 2013 ERO review, a number of changes have taken place including:
a growing roll
more parents undertaking playcentre training
the development of strategic and annual plans
the appointment of a new educator and centre-support person.
This review was part of a cluster of three reviews in the SISR.
Outram Playcentre is operating effectively as a parent cooperative. Strong, supportive relationships are evident amongst adults and children at the centre. Parents work closely with the educator to plan and assess their children's learning and development. Each child has goals and an individual learning plan. The plan links closely to their lives at home and their parents' wishes for their development and learning. Children's profile books are a good record of children's learning and development over time.
Children are confident explorers who are well supported to make choices and lead their own learning. Group themes and activities successfully run alongside individual programmes and provide a variety of contexts for learning in the local community. The centre is well resourced and enables children to successfully explore activities of interest and take part in rich learning opportunities. There is some inclusion of a Māori dimension throughout the programme.
Children under two years old are well included in the programme. All parents willingly support all children and each other in the programme. Older children interact thoughtfully with the infants and toddlers.
The educator and president effectively build parents' understanding of the playcentre approach and philosophy. Most parents have undertaken some playcentre parent training. This has helped them to contribute to the planning and assessment of their own children.
ERO and the parents agree that the next steps should be to continue to integrate and embed Te Whāriki (2017) The Early Childhood Curriculum by:
further exploring Te Whāriki through professional development and discussion
documenting the playcentre's valued outcomes and how the rich local curriculum supports these.
There also need to be:
continued knowledge building and inclusion of bicultural perspectives
strengthening of internal evaluation and broadening the scope of this to cover all aspects of centre operations, including the philosophy.
At the time of this review the Otago Playcentre Association was implementing the New Zealand Playcentre Federation's new operating model. It was amalgamating with Southland and South Canterbury Playcentre Associations to become the South Island Southern Region. While the changes resulted in some disruption to the services provided to individual playcentres in 2017, the OPA is effectively managing the restructure with the resources available to them. Each playcentre now receives regular support from a paid administrator and a centre support worker. There are robust systems in the association for monitoring the progress and performance of individual playcentres, and targeted support is given when needed.
Before the review, the staff and management of Outram Playcentre completed an ERO Centre Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklist. In these documents they attested that they have taken all reasonable steps to meet their legal obligations related to:
During the review, ERO looked at the service’s systems for managing the following areas that have a potentially high impact on children's wellbeing:
emotional safety (including positive guidance and child protection)
physical safety (including supervision; sleep procedures; accidents; medication; hygiene; excursion policies and procedures)
suitable staffing (including qualification levels; police vetting; teacher registration; ratios)
evacuation procedures and practices for fire and earthquake.
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
The next ERO review of Outram Playcentre will be in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review & Improvement Services Southern
Te Waipounamu - Southern Region
12 December 2018
The Education Review Office (ERO) is the government department that, as part of its work, reviews early childhood services throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. ERO’s reports provide information for parents and communities about each service’s strengths and next steps for development. ERO’s bicultural evaluation framework Ngā Pou Here is described in SECTION 3 of this report. Early childhood services are partners in the review process and are expected to make use of the review findings to enhance children's wellbeing and learning.
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Location |
Outram |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
81028 |
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Licence type |
Playcentre |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
25 children, including up to 15 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
27 |
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Gender composition |
Girls: 15 Boys: 12 |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori |
2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
80% + |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:2 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:4 |
Better than minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
September 2018 |
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Date of this report |
12 December 2018 |
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Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review |
March 2013 |
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Education Review |
October 2009 |
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Education Review |
April 2006 |
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ERO’s overarching question for an early childhood education review is ‘How well placed is this service to promote positive learning outcomes for children?’ ERO focuses on the following factors as described in the bicultural framework Ngā Pou Here:
Within these areas ERO considers the effectiveness of arotake – self review and of whanaungatanga – partnerships with parents and whānau.
ERO evaluates how well placed a service is to sustain good practice and make ongoing improvements for the benefit of all children at the service.
A focus for the government is that all children, especially priority learners, have an opportunity to benefit from quality early childhood education. ERO will report on how well each service promotes positive outcomes for all children, with a focus on children who are Māori, Pacific, have diverse needs, and are up to the age of two.
For more information about the framework and Ngā Pou Here refer to ERO’s Approach to Review in Early Childhood Services.
The overall judgement that ERO makes and the timing of the next review will depend on how well placed a service is to promote positive learning outcomes for children. The categories are:
ERO has developed criteria for each category. These are available on ERO’s website.
ERO reviews are tailored to each service’s context and performance, within the overarching review framework. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to the service.
Outram Playcentre is well placed to promote positive outcomes for children.
Outram Playcentre is a small centre on the Taieri Plains next to the Outram school. The centre provides four sessions a week for up to 25 children aged from birth to five years. One session is an extension session for older children. Many of the current parents have a long-standing involvement in, and relationship with, the centre. The sessions are led by an educator who has been there for many years. The parents are actively involved in the governance and management of the centre. They have used self review to address some of the recommendations of the previous review, improving the bicultural dimension being one of them. As a result, there is now a greater use of te reo Māori in the centre and evidence in the programme of a bicultural dimension.
This review was conducted as part of a cluster approach to reviews in fifteen early childhood education services within the Otago Playcentre Association umbrella organisation.
The high level of parent involvement in the running of the playcentre fosters strong relationships between the families that attend. Children and their families are warmly welcomed on arrival. Older children enjoy strong friendships with each other. Younger children play well on their own. The adults know the children well. They work attentively with the children, helping them to develop their thinking through good questioning and support to problem solve. They praise the children’s efforts and encourage them to take risks. The educator has some very good interactions with children to extend their thinking and imaginative play.
Children play and learn in attractive and well-resourced indoor and outdoor environments. They have many opportunities to visit the Outram School next door while they are at playcentre. For example, school concerts, singing time and visits to the school library. This helps them to be confident and make smooth transitions to school when the time comes.
Children enjoy a wide range of experiences. These include trips into the community such as the nearby Berwick reservoir, participating in the Outram spring and autumn flower shows, and a strong focus on early-literacy and numeracy in the centre programme. A strength of the centre is the way that the parent council has effectively used self review to make improvements to aspects of the programme and practices. A best-practice example is the comprehensive review of the role of the information officer and subsequently a review of the centre office-bearer roles.
The parents agree that the next step is to develop a schedule of self review to align with the priorities of the strategic plan.
The centre has proactively developed strategies to ensure succession planning of roles and responsibilities when families move on from the centre. A five-year strategic plan and well-thought-out goals inform a useful annual plan which guides the centre’s operations.
There are very good systems for planning and assessing children’s learning. Every three weeks the educator plans for a new group of children. Some of the activities she provides within the sessions are intended to advance the learning of the focus group. For example, the visit from Sport Otago was in response to an identified need to build the girls’ physical skills.
Many parents are involved in the daily programme as parent helps to set up the environment and work with their own and small groups of children. However, few parents have completed sufficient levels of playcentre training to effectively support and contribute to the teaching and learning programme. Profile books are attractive records of children’s learning and experiences but few parents contribute to these records of learning.
It is time for the centre to review the centre philosophy and practices to better align with the philosophy of the Playcentre Movement. The Centre Advisor has identified and ERO agrees that the centre needs to consider how it develops strategies to ensure that:
The Otago Playcentre Association (OPA) provides a comprehensive range of support to this and other playcentres. This includes:
The OPA executive and personnel hold regular meetings with a specific focus on each centre. They discuss best ways to support individual centres. Records from these meetings could be more specific about what support is provided and the difference it has made.
A strength of the OPA is the ongoing support provided by the Centre Advisors. The centre advisor effectively supports the parents and educators in developing their understanding of planning and assessment and self review.
Centre advisors should continue to build their knowledge and understanding of self review. They should use each centre's self review as evidence to assure the governors of the OPA how well the playcentre is promoting positive outcomes for children.
OPA personnel need to further develop their understanding of self review and use the findings to assure themselves of the effectiveness of their strategic goals and all aspects of the OPA management and operations.
Before the review, the staff and management of Outram Playcentre completed an ERO Centre Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklist. In these documents they attested that they have taken all reasonable steps to meet their legal obligations related to:
During the review, ERO looked at the service’s systems for managing the following areas that have a potentially high impact on children's wellbeing:
All early childhood services are required to promote children's health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services
Southern Region
11 March 2013
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Location |
Outram, Dunedin |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
81028 |
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Licence type |
Playcentre - Sessional |
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Licensed under |
Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 |
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Number licensed for |
25 children, including up to 8 aged under 2 |
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Service roll |
25 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 17 Girls 8 |
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Ethnic composition |
NZ European/Pākehā Māori |
23 2 |
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Percentage of qualified teachers |
1 Educator with course 4 Playcentre training |
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Reported ratios of staff to children |
Under 2 |
1:1 |
Exceeds minimum requirements |
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Over 2 |
1:4 |
Exceeds minimum requirements |
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Review team on site |
November 2012 |
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Date of this report |
11 March 2013 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review Education Review Education Review |
October 2009 April 2006 March 2001 |
The Education Review Office (ERO) is the New Zealand government department that reviews schools and early childhood services throughout New Zealand.
ERO's education reviews in early childhood services focus on the factors that contribute to positive learning outcomes for children. ERO evaluates how well placed the service is to make and sustain improvements for the benefit of all children at the service. To reach these findings ERO considers:
Within these areas ERO considers the effectiveness of self review and partnerships with parents and whānau.
ERO reviews do not cover every aspect of service performance and each ERO report may cover different issues. The aim is to provide information on aspects that are central to positive outcomes for children and useful to the service.